Everything important about life, I learned while running. Or while I complained about running or avoided running or whined about not having run enough. Breathing, seeing, sweating, aching, exhilarating, and general observations.

Saturday, May 09, 2009

2009 New Restaurant #2: Sichuan Garden

My friend Lilly told me about this place in Brookline Village that supposedly had "authentic" Sichuan food. She had to tell me twice before Joseph and I actually went.

So, let me just say that Sichuan Garden is one of the best Chinese restaurants I've been to in recent memory. They have a huge Chinese clientele and the food is delicious.

Sichuan food is typically highly flavored and pretty spicy. And Sichuan Garden had both but the spiciness was still not hot enough for me. But it was full of flavor and "clean".

Clean food is food that I define as not high in oil or fat, good tender cuts of meat, and vibrantly green fresh vegetables.

The portion sizes are also reasonable. This is not a place that hides the lack of quality buy giving you an overabundant amount of quantity.

The wait staff is professional and courteous. Service is good. It's not like they are snap-to-it-quick and when they are busy, they are on the slower side of good, but it's okay. Ad they're not on top of you every second but if it's not too busy, they are attentive. We did go on a night where we had to wait for a table and they weren't quite as attentive. The order taking was a bit slow but understandable especially if you consider that most Chinese restaurants are notoriously understaffed during rush hour. But after the order was taken and the first food order came out, everything was served hot and very promptly.

This is my new favorite sit-down Chinese restaurant.

Next time, I'm ordering a whole Dumpling with Spicy Ginger and Chile Sauce appetizer for myself.